Roederer says he's not ready for the recliner yet

Photo by: Brooks TaylorMt. Pleasant Community School District Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Roederer

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Dr. John Roederer may be retiring, but he doesn’t plan on sitting in his recliner with his feet up.

Mt. Pleasant school directors accepted Roederer’s resignation as superintendent of schools during their regular meeting Monday night. Roederer, a Mt. Pleasant native, has headed the Mt. Pleasant Community School District the past 20 years.

“I still love and enjoy what I am doing,” Roederer said yesterday afternoon. “I just felt now is the time, I am still healthy. I still can work and enjoy working. I am going to try and find some part-time work to stay busy.”

He said he doesn’t have any plans beyond the June 30 end of his tenure with the school district. “I would like to keep one foot in education. My retirement has nothing to do with the challenges of the job.”

Roederer, 64, who is in his second position with the local school district, said he and his wife, Jan, have been talking about him retiring for about a year.

The administrator began his education career as a social studies teacher with stops in Cedar Falls and Ft. Madison. He returned to Mt. Pleasant in 1981 as an assistant principal at the middle school. In 1986, he became superintendent at Winfield-Mt. Union and returned to Mt. Pleasant following a three-year stint as superintendent at Anamosa.

“I have had great boards (of education) and staffs here. Change can be good. I just didn’t want to reach a point where I didn’t enjoy it.”